In the last note, I used the word “Elector”. Six or seven heads of regions or kingdoms in the Holy Roman Empire were entitled to vote or elect an Emperor of the Empire. The head of the Palatinate was such Elector.
After the French invasion of the Palatinate about 1685, the French withdrew and the citizens had a few years of peace. Then in 1693, another invasion brought on a wave of widespread misery. It was at this time that the castle at Heidelberg, which was the seat of the head of the Palatinate, was destroyed. Some of this castle has been restored but much remains in ruins. Incidentally, many of the extant church books date from this time. Even in Gemmingen, outside the Palatinate, the church books start then.
Another war commenced in 1701 and it dragged on for thirteen years. This war, started by Louis of France, was on the question of the Spanish succession. Louis sought the crown of Spain for his grandson Philip. He was opposed by the same Grand Alliance as before, to which England has been added. Much of the fighting was done in Spain and Germany but the Palatinate was the pathway for the armies as they shifted position. Generally the armies operated on the philosophy of living from the land. In 1707, Louis launched a phase of war that repeated his actions of twenty years before.
So one the possible causes of emigration from the Palatinate may have been war.
The Palatinate was not without its own religious troubles. Early in the Reformation, the Elector Palatine gave his support to the doctrine of Geneva, i.e., the Reformed religion. During this period, the Reformed church adopted the famed Heidelberg Catechism. Then for 130 years, no two successive Elector Palatines were of the same faith. Lutheran and Reformed princes succeeded each other in regular alteration. Generally each prince would try to have his faith adopted as the faith of the people.
Finally, at the time of the War of Spanish Succession, John William, of the house of Newburgh and the Elector, deserted both the Reformed and Lutheran faiths and adopted the ancient faith of the Church of Rome. (Some time ago, in these notes, we talked about the troubles of Pastor Henkel who felt the pressure of the Elector Palatine.) To the misfortunes of war, the miseries of religious tyrannies were added as a reason for emigration.
In 1708, the Board of Trade in London noted that a group of “distressed Palatines had been driven out of the Palatinate by the cruelty of the French” and they made application to the Board for transportation to America.
(11 Oct 06)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.